6 Valley attorneys join Jackson Lewis' Phoenix office

by John McLean - Feb. 4, 2010 12:00 AMArizona Business Gazette

Six attorneys from Ford & Harrison in Phoenix have joined Jackson Lewis' Phoenix office. Richard S. Cohen and Stephanie M. Cerasano joined as partners; Justin S. Pierce joined as of counsel; and Stephen B. Coleman, Sonya K. Boun and Kylie Crawford TenBrook joined as associates. Cohen has experience in employment law, mediation and arbitration practice and experience negotiating and preparing executive employment agreements and executive separation packages and litigating trade secret and misappropriation disputes. Cohen received his law degree with honors from George Washington University Law School in 1971. Cerasano focuses on defense of employers in disability discrimination, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and wage and hour law. She received her law degree magna cum laude from Arizona State University College of Law in 1996. Pierce represents employers in wrongful termination and discrimination claims before government agencies charged with investigating and prosecuting employment claims. He received his law degree cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2003. Coleman focuses his practice on employment litigation, with an emphasis on Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, and state law discrimination cases. He received his law degree cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002.

Promotions and hires

Stephanie Fierro, owner of Fierro Law PLC, a business-law and estate-planning practice in Ahwatukee Foothills, has joined the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce board of directors for 2010. She is an active member of the Chamber and is chair for the Women in Business Committee for 2010.

 Jeffrey Smith and Mandi Karvis have been elected shareholders at Sanders & Parks in Phoenix, and Benjamin Erlick and Nicholas Bender joined the firm as associates. Smith focuses his practice on insurance coverage, municipal/public entity liability litigation, commercial warranty litigation, products liability, insurance liability law, personal/catastrophic injury, and appeals. He received his law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2003. Karvis focuses on medical malpractice defense. She received her law degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 2002. Erlick focuses on civil litigation and intellectual property law. He received his law degree magna cum laude from the Phoenix School of Law. Bender practices in commercial litigation, insurance coverage, products liability, construction litigation, and appeals. He received his law degree with distinction from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2009.

Awards and honors

Fennemore Craig has been recognized as one of the largest law firms in the nation on the National Law Journal 250. The firm is listed at No. 227 on the 2009 version of the annual listing. They were listed as No. 7 on the NLJ's list of Top 20 firms for women partners.

 Perkins Coie has been named to Fortune magazine's "100 Best Places to Work For." This is their eighth consecutive year on the list, moving up to 75 from 82 last year.

 The Arizona Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and Fennemore Craig will present today "Defining and Delivering Greater Value for Clients in 2010." Featured speaker for the half-day interactive meeting will be Michael Roster, chair of ACC's Value Challenge Steering Committee. The program will be at Fennemore Craig, 3003 N. Central Ave., Suite 2600, Phoenix, and will run 8 a.m. to noon. More information for in-house counsel wanting to register is available from Peter Jenkins at pjenkins@fclaw.com, 602-916-5348 or 928-710-3224.

 Thomas A. Gilson, a partner at Lewis and Roca in Phoenix, has been named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an honorary organization of lawyers, judges and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Gilson practices commercial litigation. He has represented clients in large-scale bankruptcy, securities and class-action litigation. He received his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.